Patterson Holds Weekly Presser
10/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
FORT WORTH, Texas -- TCU football coach Gary Patterson held his weekly news conference on Tuesday in the Four Sevens Team Room.
The No. 10 Horned Frogs are at No. 20 West Virginia on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CDT on ABC.
Included below are excerpts from Patterson's meeting with the media.
Opening Statement ...
"Week eight. We're back at it. We wanted to be bowl eligible and get to that point. Everything now counts as one. Two tough games in a row. West Virginia in Morgantown. They're playing really well on both sides of the ball. You can say the same thing about Kansas State. Then a three-week stretch with Kansas, Texas and Iowa State. We just have to take it one at a time. It starts with West Virginia. Coach (Dana) Holgorsen has really done a great job. They're kind of in the same situation we've been in coming into the Big 12. We've had identical records the first two years. Both our games with each other have gone to overtime. We've beat each other at home. We have to find a way to win."
On the last two years preparing his team for this stretch of games ...
"I don't know. Over the last two years, we've played pretty well on the road. Two years ago, including when we played at West Virginia, we won four games on the road. This group is mentally tough, which you need to go play on the road. We're going to take it as the next ball game and go about our business. If we do that, we have a better chance of climbing. Just keep doing what we've been doing and keep our nose down."
On what has changed since being in the Big 12 ...
"Competition level. There are also a lot of different fronts that you have to get better at, including recruiting. We played 16 true freshman two years ago, so you have to mature. You have to learn about going and playing in all of the different places in the conference. I admire not only Coach Holgorsen and his team, but the West Virginia crowd. Just like here in Texas, they make football very important. They're very passionate about the team and what they do. You always like to go places and play where they have that kind of enthusiasm in the stands. It's a lot of fun."
On his defense ...
"We've played really well at times. They've figured some things out. They didn't play well for a quarter last week. We saw three plays that we hadn't seen. They ran the back vertical, which is a really good play, and we missed a tackle. Then two hitch screens, but you have to get ready to play.
"These offenses that you play, the one that Coach (Kliff) Kingsbury, Dana (Holgorsen) and (Doug) Meacham and (Sonny) Cumbie do a good job with, is about surviving the first 20 because they've studied all week or longer. They're going to pick apart every person you have on your defense and try to find a weakness. We're going to have to play in the red zone. I think we've only allowed six red zone touchdowns. That means you can't give up the big play. Another stat that I had overlooked is that we are second in the country in forcing three-and-outs. That's a big deal.
"You have to make them kick field goals. This game won't be any different. You're going to have to keep them out of the end zone. They've got some big-time weapons on offense and have really come on defensively. They blitzed Baylor hard and did a great job doing so. We're going to have to get ready. We expect West Virginia to play its best game to date."
On Trevone Boykin and his Heisman Trophy chances ...
"For Trevone Boykin to be a guy who can move into the top three, we're going to have to win a lot in the next five games. If we win, that means he probably has some great stats. He'll then be a guy who's had a great year and will be considered. It'll be hard for him having such a late start.
"He just needs to keep doing what he's doing. We need to keep playing and scoring points, and defensively you have to stop people. You've got some very good teams coming down the road. There's nobody left on the schedule that can't beat you.
"Trevone has to understand that the longer it goes, the more this surrounds you. If you don't stay focused on the task at hand, you won't achieve what you want to. The best thing you can do is keep climbing the pyramid and only worry about things that you can control. If you do that, you have a chance to be successful. He's grown up a lot during his three years here."
